One Dance
by grapefritters
Summary: It sucked not having anyone to go with to prom. Now she had one dance to look forward to with one of her best friends and she couldn't wait.


_One Dance_

Brittany; Brittany/Finn (mentions and appearances by other characters and pairings)

**A/N:** AU. Set during "Rumours" and "Prom Queen."

* * *

The first time Brittany was called stupid was in kindergarten. She was trying to tie the laces on the wooden shoe but it didn't make sense and everyone was looking at her. They had all mostly done it, but she could remember how it was hard and the laces just wouldn't do what they were supposed to do. The teacher had been nice about it, telling her they could try again the next day, but then a girl in the back of the class said, "Don't be stupid, Brittany! It's so easy!" After that, being called stupid was just kind of normal.

But Artie wasn't supposed to agree with other people. He was supposed to love her and understand that she wasn't stupid. Her mom told her she just looked at things differently. And now she was looking at Artie differently.

She didn't even have time to try to stop herself from crying before she started and she turned and rushed off down the hall. She couldn't go into the bathroom because she didn't want anyone else to see her, so she ducked into the choir room.

It took her a few minutes standing against the door with her eyes shut to hear the deep sound of the drum - the part you use your foot for. She didn't know what it was called, but it usually made her want to dance.

She looked up and saw Finn sitting at the drum set, just sitting there spinning his drum sticks between his fingers and tapping his foot on that pedal. She sniffled loudly and his head popped up, the sound stopping immediately and his lips curling into a smile until he noticed the tears streaming down her face. Swiping at her cheeks, she smiled weakly. "Hi."

Her eyes locked onto the spinning of his drum sticks as she tried to calm her breathing. "Are you okay?" She looked up in time to see his eyes widen as he asked, "Did someone die?"

Brittany shook her head, moving across the room to hop up onto the piano. "No, but I think Artie just broke up with me." With a confused frown, she added, "Or I broke up with him. I don't really know."

Finn blinked, smiling awkwardly over at her and lifting one of the drum sticks to scratch at his head. "Sorry. Um, I don't usually do this crying girl thing, so I don't know what to do." He put the drum sticks down and got up from the set, walking over to the piano slowly and sitting on top next to her. He didn't have to hop like she had and she smiled softly as he settled himself next to her.

"Just talk to me?" She wiped at the last of her tears but looked down as she thought over what had happened in the hallway. "He called me stupid." She whispered. Finn's shoulder touched hers as he leaned forward and she looked over to see his brow furrowed and a hint of anger flashing in his eyes.

"He what?" Finn moved away from her as she whispered the word again and set his feet back on the floor, getting up from the piano and turning back to her. "He called you stupid and he made you cry. That's not right." As he turned to leave the room, she grabbed his wrist and shook her head as quickly as possible, her mind going to an image of what could happen if Finn left.

"No!" Brittany pulled him back toward the piano. "You're like a giant and he's just in his chair. I don't want anyone to tip him over. No matter what."

Finn sighed loudly and nodded, moving back to sit next to her again. "You're not stupid, Brittany. People call me that sometimes too and that's just not nice." Brittany smiled softly over at him and squeezed his wrist before finally releasing her hold on him.

"Thanks. I don't think you're stupid either." She thought back to her shirt from the glee club's Born This Way performance and how she'd made it because she heard it all the time. "I know people think I am, but Artie was like the only person in the school who had never called me that."

Finn made a noise of mock outrage and turned her toward him with a hand on her shoulder. "Hey! I've never called you stupid. And you won that trivia contest on tv. You're awesome." He titled his head and narrowed his eyes in thought. "You're one of the hottest girls in school, too. You're really pretty."

Brittany giggled and nodded in agreement. "I know." Finn laughed along with her and elbowed her softly in the arm.

The warning bell rang, signaling that there was just a few more minutes before classes would start and attendance taken. Brittany glanced at the closed door and then back to Finn, sliding the inch or so closer to his side and hugging him. "Thanks. I didn't want anyone to see me crying and tell me I was stupid for that too." Finn nodded and patted her back softly before she pulled away and hopped down off of the piano. Adjusting her backpack, she smiled up at him and began to walk away with a wave, saying, "I'll see you in glee."

=/=

The rest of the day moved slowly and Brittany was completely nervous about seeing Artie again. After having time to think about everything he had said, though, and asking Quinn if it was true that she had been cheating on him with Santana, she realized she did have something to apologize for. She wouldn't ask him to take her back, but she was sorry for how she had made him feel. Hopefully he was sorry too.

Walking into the room, she slowly approached the group of empty chairs and waited for Artie to arrive. Rachel, and then Sam, and then Santana, Finn, Quinn, and Tina and Mike came in before she heard the faint sound of Artie's wheelchair coming closer to the room. She held her breath as he came into view, turning to Finn with a worried expression when she realized he was sitting next to her with Quinn on his other side. "I feel bad." She said when she released the breath. "I realized something he said was true."

Finn lifted an eyebrow and whispered back, "I told you you weren't stupid."

She shook her head quickly. "Not that. He said some other things before that and I figured it out. Quinn helped." She leaned forward in her chair to look past Finn to the other blonde and sent her a thankful smile. Swallowing roughly, she sat back and watched as Artie settled himself at the other end of the first row of seats.

She tried to get his attention by moving back and forth in her seat, but he was ignoring meeting her eyes.

"You can talk to him after," Quinn said from the other side of Finn, reaching across his lap to pat her hand reassuringly. Brittany looked back and nodded, relaxing into her seat as best she could and waiting for the rest of the club to get there.

At least now she understood a few things better. That was like a fresh start. She'd never hurt anyone that way again.

=/=

The next couple of weeks were slower. Her friendship, relationship, whatever it was with Santana was different after talking to Quinn about Artie's worries about them and Santana not letting her ask her to prom. She did think she loved her, but she had thought she loved Artie too and it felt like maybe they had been kind of fighting for her the entire time. Quinn was right when she told her she didn't want to be like a piece of meat dogs fought over. That just seemed painful.

She was happy to be friends with Quinn, because she was smart and was really helpful when it came to relationship stuff. Artie had been Brittany's first relationship and she was still confused about how to be a girlfriend since she didn't think she had been a good one to him. He kind of forgave her, though, and apologized for asking why she was stupid. She had figured out a lot because of that question.

And Finn. She was really happy to have Finn as a friend. He stopped looking at Rachel as much and focused more on Quinn after that whole gossip thing about her and Sam.

"I just feel bad for thinking she'd do that again," he told her one day after everyone else had left glee rehearsal. "Especially when she was just helping Sam out."

"That was nice of her. Stevie and Stacey are really cute!" She exclaimed and smiled at him, tilting her head and squeezing his arm. "But you're okay now. You're still together and you don't look at Rachel as much."

Finn breathed in and looked at her for a moment longer than usual before pushing out of his seat and lumbering over to the door. "Yeah, Rachel will probably be my friend for a long time, but I shouldn't lead her on." He met her eyes from across the room and nodded stiffly, tightening his hold on his back pack. "Do you need a ride?"

Singsonging a yes as she rose from her seat and grabbed her backpack, she met him at the door and they walked out toward his locker in silence. It was kind of weird actually being Finn's friend. They had kind of been friends because of football and Cheerios, but they hadn't talked too much or done anything together. That double date thing she had gone on with him and Santana totally didn't count. Being friends with him now was nice.

"Hey, Britt." She lifted her head and looked around, finding him standing a few feet behind her at his locker and waving his hand around in the air. "I'm right here."

With a sheepish smile, she slowly approached his locker. "Sorry. I was thinking."

Finn smirked as he emptied his backpack into the locket. "Don't think too hard. Sometimes it can make your head hurt." Her initial reaction was that he was telling her that she couldn't think, but then she recognized the playful lilt in his voice, one she had become familiar with through hanging out with him. She relaxed, giggling as she leaned against the locker next to his.

"I was just thinking about how awesome it is to be your friend now, like actually hanging out and talking." She pouted suddenly and kicked at his shin. "Even if you won't let me teach you all the dancing I want!" Sticking her tongue out at him, she pushed away from the lockers.

Finn looked away and noisily finished with his books, slamming the locker shut and taking a moment before moving to her. His frame towered over her a little and she titled her head back to meet his eyes.

"How about I save you a dance at prom? Quinn won't mind and it'll be like I'm making up for not letting you teach me."

Brittany clapped her hands excitedly. "I'd love to! We can dance together and it will be so fun."

After her relationship with Artie ended and Santana wouldn't let her ask her to the prom on her Internet show, she was dateless. That was completely new to her. Being a Cheerio and being popular meant she had a date to every dance ever, and even though she kind of liked being single, it was still prom. And it sucked not having anyone to go with to prom. Now she had one dance to look forward to with one of her best friends and she couldn't wait.

Looking up at Finn happily, she bounced on her feet slightly before wrapping her arms tightly around him. It took a moment of standing straight as she hugged him for Finn to hug her back, sliding his arms around her and relaxing into her. Brittany sighed contently and rested her head on his chest before pulling away and looking up at him again.

"It will be so great to dance with you."

He brought a hand up to his neck as he nodded back, not quite meeting her eyes but not moving away from her either.

When he finally met her eyes, she smiled softly and turned to start walking again with him following slowly behind her. She might not have been the smartest person ever when it came to relationships, but she knew that hug kind of changed the way she felt about him. That just couldn't happen, though. He had a girlfriend and Quinn was her friend, and he was her friend. That was fine. She had seen two girls fight over him before, a few times, and she couldn't do that. She knew how being fought over felt now and she didn't want to cause him any pain.

=/=

Brittany quickly learned after making real friends with Quinn that the other blonde didn't have many of her own. And with Santana being a little distant, Brittany didn't have any girls to get ready with. It was just kind of obvious that she and Quinn would do it together. She didn't actually tell Quinn that, and showed up at her house around four the afternoon of prom, but Mrs. Fabray happily let her in, "happy to see a familiar face," and led her to Quinn's room.

"Hey, Quinn!" Brittany smiled widely and walked into the room, setting her garment bag on the bed and makeup bag on the floor. "I thought we'd get ready together."

Quinn laughed lightly and nodded, motioning her to a chair in the corner. "That's a really great idea, Brittany. I should have thought about that, but between prom queen and helping Sam out and being a girlfriend, I've been scatterbrained."

Smiling back and nodding as Quinn talked, Brittany tried to push the awkwardness she was feeling aside. She had thought that just accepting that she liked Finn but deciding it would be better to push the feelings away would be easy. But hearing Quinn refer to herself as his girlfriend was hard. It wasn't that she wanted to be his girlfriend, at least she wasn't letting herself think that much about it, but really knowing there was nothing she could do about it was so weird. Before dating Artie, and even getting Artie, she could just make it happen. Now she was completely without any kind of control over the situation.

Finn had a girlfriend and she was just his friend. And his girlfriend was her friend too. There was nothing she could do except move on from something that had never even happened and be their friend.

"Well!" She exclaimed and stood up, grabbing her make up bag. "Let's get ready." Pulling the chair over next to Quinn at her vanity, Brittany sat down and unloaded her supplies. Getting ready with Quinn was bringing them closer together, and even with the Finn stuff Brittany was excited to have a new friend she could do anything with.

When she looked at the other girl's three reflections in the mirror, she thought she already looked wonderful with just her hair done. "You look just like a princess. Or I guess queen. You and Finn will be the most beautiful Prom King and Queen ever."

Quinn moved her head from side to side, putting her own makeup brushes up and smiling happily into the mirror. "We've really made a comeback as a couple. I knew we would, and I do love Finn in a way I will never love anyone else if anything were to happen, but sometimes I feel like I'm watching our relationship more than being a part of it."

Tilting her head to the side in confusion, Brittany asked, "What do you mean? You're Finn and Quinn. You're together a lot."

Quinn seemed stuck for a moment before beginning, "Helping Sam and his family takes a lot of time, Brittany." She turned away from her and began stacking the eyeshadow palettes on her vanity. "I campaign for prom queen during the day and I babysit most nights while Sam works. Finn and I haven't been on a date in a couple of weeks."

"You're kind of going on a date tonight!" Brittany started, getting up and dragging her chair next to Quinn's. "He'll pick you up and take you somewhere dressed fancy for dancing and it will be great." As she spoke, Brittany hoped the sudden jealousy bubbling up wasn't showing. She didn't even understand exactly where it came from. She knew she liked Finn, but she also liked Quinn as a friend and there was nothing she could do about her feelings without hurting both of her friends. Friends. That was all they were ever going to be.

She took one of Quinn's cosmetic brushes in hand and started on the simple yet elegant look Quinn wanted for the night. "Prom will be amazing, you know? Finn's going to love your makeup and dress. You look like a princess or queen or something, so maybe that means you'll win. Maybe Finn is going to be your king. I know how much you want him to be."

Quinn smiled and closed her eyes as Brittany wordlessly went back to work on her eyeshadow.

After she finished with the other blonde's makeup, she stood up and grabbed her makeup bag, emptying it to get to all the items she had picked for her own prom look. Brittany wasn't always the best person at picking up awkwardness, but she could tell that something she said was probably wrong. She really hoped it wasn't that her liking Finn was showing.

Neither girl said much, at least nothing about relationships or even prom, as they finished their makeup, Brittany's hair and getting dressed. It wasn't until the door bell ring a couple hours later that Brittany realized that showing up at Quinn's without letting her know meant she was going to be there when Finn arrived to pick Quinn up for the prom.

"Oh god," she muttered as she shooed Quinn out of the room, listening with her eyes shut while Finn told his girlfriend how beautiful she was when she met him. When Quinn told him that she was there, she opened her eyes and walked to the top of the stairs.

"Oh, here she is!" Quinn exclaimed and Brittany smiled as her eyes met Finn's over the other blonde's head.

"Hey, Britt."

She looked at the banister she was holding as she finished walking down the stairs, coming to a stop on the last step. "Hi. I kind of just stopped by. I understand if you don't have room for me."

"There's more than enough room." Quinn interjected before Finn had the chance to respond. Grabbing her clutch, Quinn called out to her mother that the three of them were leaving and to come out for more pictures. Turning back to Brittany and Finn, she took Finn's hand and began walking to the door. "Come on, we'll be late!"

Brittany was a little sad that she hadn't been able to hear the same kind of appreciation from someone (from Finn) that Quinn had, but once they entered the gym and a few freshman Cheerios came over to tell her how pretty she looked, she felt a lot better. Maybe she just liked people telling her she was pretty, but it was really great to hear sometimes.

=/=

Like she had told everyone, their dates were really her dates, and Brittany was determined to dance with as many people as possible that night. She hoped that Quinn got the picture that she _would_ be dancing with everyone that she wanted to dance with. Friends or not, she wanted a dance with Finn. Because he promised and it was cute when he tried.

After dancing with Mike, Sam, a few other guys and girls, and taking a spin in Artie's wheelchair, she looked around hoping Quinn would let Finn go for at least one dance.

But Quinn was nowhere to be found, and Finn wasn't anywhere in sight either, so she plopped down at a table and watched as other members of the glee club paired off: Tina and Mike, Puck and Rachel, Artie and Mercedes. It was fun watching her friends dance, something she didn't do very much because she'd rather dance herself. Everyone was having a fun time together and it was nice.

"Hey, Brittany." She looked up to see Jesse standing behind her before he sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the table. "I like the green. Very neon Like A Virgin."

"Virgins are neon?" She tilted her head as she questioned him, her brow furrowing in confusion. "I'm not one."

Jesse laughed and looked out at the dance floor where Rachel was still dancing with Puck. Looking back at her, he smiled wide enough to flash his perfect teeth. "Like A Virgin, the Madonna song. In the video and performances she would wear a white wedding dress, similar to the one you have on, but yours is neon. I like it."

Brittany beamed back. "Thanks! I like your teeth. You don't use Dr. Pepper rinse, do you?"

Jesse shook his head and quickly stood up, coming back around the table and offering her his hand. "We should dance and show everyone how you really do it at a prom."

She happily took his hand, letting him pull her up out of her seat and direct her to the dance floor next to Puck and Rachel. It wasn't a surprise that they had ended up there; Brittany knew that Jesse was back for a reason. But with the glare he was getting out of the corner of Puck's eye, it looked like he had some competition. Brittany giggled and grinned at Rachel, wrapping her arms around Jesse's neck and for a moment just forgetting that she was kind of, sort of, even though she didn't want to be, in a little triangle herself.

It was fun dancing with Jesse, he was a lot nicer to her than some people were and he didn't seem to think it was weird when she said she still thought he was Mr. Schue's son. But prom was winding down and she still had one last dance that she really wanted.

Looking around the room, she spotted Sam and Quinn talking by the entrance to the gymnasium, both blondes standing closer than she'd seen in a long time.

And still no Finn.

She focused on dancing a few more songs with Jesse, watching Puck and Rachel every couple of minutes and turning her attention to Sam and Quinn still talking closely.

"Jesse," she heard and whipped her head around, looking up slightly to see Finn standing behind her.

"You're still here!" She exclaimed at the same time Jesse spun her around to face the opposite direction, so he was standing next to Finn and speaking to the taller boy.

"Like I said, Finn, I'm here as a friend. To Rachel, to everyone. And Brittany."

Brittany smiled widely at both boys, looking between them for a second before she noticed the look on Finn's face. She had seen that one a lot in the past couple of years. Jealousy.

"Oh," she suddenly said, unwrapping her arms from Jesse's neck and kissing him on the cheek. She inwardly grinned as she spotted that look still on Finn's face and began speaking to Jesse without taking her eyes away from Finn. She kind of liked that look. "It was fun dancing with you Jesse, but Finn promised me one."

The boy nodded and took his hands off of her waist, walking away with one last glance at the still dancing Puck and Rachel.

"I thought you left. I've kind of been looking for you," Brittany said as she took a step toward Finn. "Where were you?"

He shrugged with a small frown. "I was talking to Quinn, for a while, and then Sam. Uh, we broke up."

Her eyes widened. Oh, she hadn't thought something like that was going to happen at prom. Not when Quinn wanted to be prom queen so badly. "What? Why?" Before Finn could answer, she added, "But I thought you were going to be prom king and queen and live happily ever after."

Finn chuckled and ran a hand over the back of his neck. "I don't know if things happen like that. Dunno if I'm a king. Quinn's totally a queen, but I think we were pretending."

She stepped closer and placed a hand on his arm, a sympathetic smile on her face. "I'm sorry, Finn." No matter what, she really was. She and Artie had been broken up for like a week and it still kind of hurt, so she knew Finn wasn't going to be okay after just one dance with her.

"It's okay." Finn said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Her and Sam are kind of like the queen or princess or whatever and that guy who's a lot better for her than the prince."

She titled her head, her brow furrowing. "I don't get it."

"Neither do I. But I'm okay, really. It's better like this."

He smiled softly and she smiled back, stepping just one more step to him. "Will you dance with me now? You promised."

"Yeah."

Placing one of her hands on his shoulder, she took his hand and directed it to her hip and began to guide him just a little to the music. "I've been waiting all night. It's kind of the thing I was looking forward to the most."

He grinned down at her. "Really? Me too."

Brittany nodded and wrapped both arms around his neck. "You can put your other hand on my hip too," She directed. "And just move a little more."

Finn did as she said and she giggled. He lifted an eyebrow with an amused expression on his face. "What's so funny? No laughing at my dancing."

She shook her head and giggled more. "I'm not laughing at you. I'm finally teaching you how to dance."

With a chuckle, Finn rolled his eyes beore meeting hers. "Is this some kind of trap, Britt?"

Brittany giggled loudly and shook her head quickly, tightening her arms around his neck. She loved having these one on one moments with Finn. "Nope. I just wanted to dance with you. But I will be teaching you lots and lots." Looking down at their feet, she focused on their steps for a few moments. "You're not too bad. I just need to teach you to step a little more... confidently. Maybe you just needed the right partner and teacher."

She felt him squeeze her hip and she looked up at him from under her lashes. He was looking down at her with an expression she had _never_ seen from him. "Yeah, maybe that was all I needed."

Ducking her head as she felt the blush begin creeping up her neck, Brittany giggled again. As the song ended, she grabbed his hands and spun herself in his arms, laughing up at him. "Thanks for the dance, Finn. It made prom for me."

He seemed a little shocked by the spin but relaxed and hugged her to him as other people around them began leaving the dance floor and gym all together. "Yeah, me too. I swear you can teach me how to dance now."

"Pinky swear?" She held her pinky out to him with a grin, hooking hers around his when he held out his own. "So, can I have a ride home, Finny?"

Finn nodded and guided her off of the dance floor, attempting to spin her on his own one more time but spinning her just a little too hard. "Oh sorry, Britt."

Rubbing her head where it hit his chest, she giggled and held onto his arm. "First thing tomorrow, I'm teaching you how to spin me. You have to be perfect at it so we can do it a lot more." Finn chuckled and nodded, opening the passenger door of his truck for her when they made it outside. After he shut the door and was walking over to the driver's side, she thought about the last few weeks and how they had really changed her. Even if they had started with her ex boyfriend asking her what seemed like a terrible question. She might not have been the smartest person in the world but she knew this one dance could be leading to a lot. They were friends right now, and she wasn't going to push him into being anything but friends with her, but it felt good to know they could be more. The best part was she wasn't losing any friends, only gaining a dance partner and maybe more one day.


End file.
